It has been three years since I hosted The Biblical Studies Carnival. Before I list some of the most outstanding posts for April, allow me to take a short trip through memory lane.

The April 2019 Biblical Studies Carnival will be Carnival Number 159. Since the Biblical Studies Carnival is published on the first day of each month, this means that the Carnival is 13 years and three months old. A lot has been changed in the blog world in the last thirteen years.

I began blogging in 2005; the Carnival was born in 2006. When I began blogging, bloggers used to link their blogs to other bloggers. The purpose of linking was to attract more viewers to one’s blog and to advertise the kind of material bloggers were publishing.

As I prepared the April Carnival, I noticed that most bloggers do not link their blogs. Bloggers today are lone rangers. The fellowship that existed among biblical bloggers no longer exists, if it existed at all. In addition, many bloggers do not publish regularly. Out of 137 bloggers listed in the Complete List of Biblioblogs published in July 2018, only 71 bloggers posted in April, and some of them, posted only one or two posts.

The meeting of bloggers at the annual meeting of the SBL was one way for bloggers to meet, have fellowship, and exchange ideas. Today, most bloggers do not know what their fellow bloggers are doing. I would like to use the April Carnival to encourage bloggers to link their blogs to other blogs.

The reciprocal linking of blogs was a good way to keep bloggers up-to-date with the work of fellow bloggers. I would like to encourage bloggers to return to the tradition of the past. Let us, once again, begin the reciprocal linkage of blogs.

Here are some of the outstanding posts for April 2019.

OLD TESTAMENT

I have begun a series of studies on the character of the God of the Old Testament in response to Greg Boyd’s portrayal of God in his book Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Helen Paynter at the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence has written a good review of Crucifixion of the Warrior God. She also has a good post on avoiding category errors when reading Old Testament narrative.

Prof. Israel Knohl, writing at The Torah, has a good article on the Exodus and the history behind the story.

Jaap Doedens writes about those elusive Sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4.

Dominic S. Irudayaraj seeks a non-violent reading of violence in the Bible.

Dolores Kamrada discusses her thoughts on the Biblical heroic tradition.

NEW TESTAMENT

Charles Savelle has a good study on the healing of a centurion’s servant.

Since Easter was celebrated in April, many bloggers wrote posts dealing with Easter and the Resurrection.

Philip Jenkins wrote on Mark’s Ending and the Resurrection.

James Mcgrath wrote on Easter and Historical Nuance.

Bart Ehrman discusses “The Radical Implications of the Resurrection.”

Bob MacDonald discussed Christmas on Easter Sunday. He also has a post on light and words related to light in the Hebrew Bible.

Michael Bird asked, “Who does the Ministry in Ephesians 4:12?”

Craig Keener has begun a series of studies on the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Phil Long is doing a study on the book of Acts. Here are two of his studies: Acts 28:30, Acts 20:1-5.

Christopher Page continues his journey through James.

MISCELLANEOUS

Jim Davila at PaleoJudaica is going on indefinite hiatus due to a family situation. Jim, come back soon.

Aren Maeir has some great aerial photos of Tell es-Safi/Gath.

Scot McKnight has an excellent post on preachers who “are preaching sermons they, in effect, did not write and use research they did not do themselves.” Scot also writes about the death of his father.

Neil Godfrey at Vridar has a very interesting review of a discussion published in the Israel Studies Journal where Israeli scholars discuss and criticize the use of the words “occupation” and “genocide” to refer to Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians.

Will Hart Brown at The Biblical Review has a good review of Edward Lipinski’s book A History of the Kingdom of Israel.

Joshua Schendel at Conciliar Post discusses theology as a second language.

David Miller continues his study on first-century CE memories of the Maccabean revolt.

Marg Mowczko surveys the women who were partners with Jesus in his ministry.

Ian Paul at Psephizo asks “What is the Church of England’s problem with the Bible?”

Matt Page reviews the series Jesus: His Life which is being broadcast on The History Channel.

Marc Zvi Brittler reflects on the work of Krister Stendahl.

Norma Brumbaugh discusses the basic need that every human being has, the need to be wanted, Part 1, Part 2.

Future Carnivals

The June 2019 Carnival (Due July 1) will be hosted by Jim West, @drjewest

The July 2019 Carnival (Due August 1) will be hosted by Lindsay Kennedy, @digitalseminary

The August 2019 Carnival (Due September 1) will be hosted by Amateur Exegete, @amateurexegete

We still need volunteers for September 2019 Carnival (Due October 1) through the end of the year. If you would like to host a future Biblical Carnival, please contact Phil Long at plong42 at gmail dot com.

Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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